Warwick Castle, Stratford-Upon-Avon, & Oxford University

Yesterday was an amazing day. I signed myself up for a tour of Warwick Castle, Stratford-Upon-Avon, & Oxford University. I love London, but I can not get over how gorgeous the English countryside is. It's like Ireland...Dublin is nice, but you have no idea how beautiful the country is until you see the smaller areas. We started the day off with Warwick Castle. The 1st castle on this site was constructed in 1068. This was made of wood and over time, it was replaced by the current stone castle. It was completed by 1468. The Earls of Warwick lived here until 1978, when it was purchased by the Tussaud's Group (Madame Tussad's). Warwick Castle is beautiful! Once again, I was blessed with yet another gorgeous sightseeing day this month. I managed to see one of the smaller gardens, the royal weekend party rooms, the dungeon, the torture chamber, the ramparts and towers, and the mound. The only thing I didn't like was that Madame Tussad's filled each room with wax figures in order to give tourists a clearer picture of what the castle used to be like. I found this a little cheesy and would have preferred to use my own imagination. The only thing I was slightly disappointed with was we were only there for an hour and 45 minutes, which was not enough time.


Next up was Stratford-Upon-Avon. This is one of the cutest little towns I have ever seen. I would love to stay at a B&B for a couple of days and explore the area sometime. We saw the home where Shakespeare was born at and lived until his 20's. It was amazing to see. The floor is the original, and I couldn't believe I was walking on the same floor that William Shakespeare walked on. We also didn't get a lot of time here, so I quickly ran off on my own and managed to snap a picture of his school and his daughter's home, as well as a few of the area. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to see the church where he was baptised, got married, and is now buried at. To be honest, I think it's a little unfair to bring people to such a historic place and not allow them time to see his grave.


After Stratford-Upon-Avon, we went to eat at a cozy Inn dating back to the 15th Century. The White Hart has been serving meals and drinks to people for hundreds of years! I had beef with Yorkshire pudding (not a dessert, but batter molded into the shape of a cup and filled with gravy in this case...but it can also be served with icecream or fruit for dessert) and a free glass of champagne, compliments of our tour. Dessert was a Bailey's Chocolate Torte...yum.


Finally, we made our way through the Cotswolds (this cute little area of England that I MUST go back to) and arrived at Oxford. We were extremely rushed and didn't have a great deal of time here, but we managed to see Christ Church College (basically the most famous one). Lewis Carroll went here (author of Alice in Wonderland) and it was said that this story was based on the Dean's daughter. In 1856, Henry Liddell became Dean at Christ Church. He moved in with his wife and 4 children, one of them named Alice. Alice was fascinated by the secret gardens at Oxford and desperately wanted to go into the President's garden. The President didn't like children and refused to allow children access. Rumor has it that one day, Alice's cat escaped into the President's garden and she ran after it. Supposedly, this is how Lewis Carroll came up with the idea for his book. The tour promised we would see this garden, but we didn't. We did get to see the Great Dining Hall that was used in the Harry Potter films though! I totally got my picture taken in there. I can't imagine eating all of my meals in that room. They were setting up for dinner as we were leaving...I wish we could have stayed.


After Oxford, we returned back to London. It was a long day, but it still wasn't over. It was one of my roommates' birthdays, so we all went out to celebrate. We headed over to a roller disco and got our skate on haha. Let's just say the night was entertaining. Some of the people there were incredibly talented...but not us of course haha. I can't even dance sans skates as good as these people were "skate dancing"!


I don't have too much planned for today besides some essay writing. The end of the semester is getting closer! My last essay is due in 1 week! I am going to try and upload all of my pictures (I have a TON) tonight and tomorrow, depending on how far I get on this essay. Have a great Sunday everyone!